BEEGHLY CENTER Indiana State's 25-2 start too much for YSU

The Sycamores rolled to a 96-57 thumping of Tisha Hill's squad.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team found out what three other Horizon League teams already knew -- Indiana State is a very good team.
The Sycamores rolled into Beeghly Center Saturday afternoon and jumped out to a 25-2 lead. They were never threatened in posting a 96-57 win over the Penguins before 2,836 fans.
The loss was the fourth straight for the Penguins (2-7), while Indiana State, which had already defeated Horizon League teams UW-Green Bay, Butler and Loyola, improved to 7-2.
"They proved what we already knew, that they were a very good basketball team," YSU coach Tisha Hill said of the Sycamores.
"I was very disappointed with our defensive effort, especially in the first half," Hill said. "We need to take a lesson from Indiana State and start playing with some confidence."
Hill said that she told her team that maybe they had better start wearing their practice uniforms during the games.
"We practice so much better than we play, we had a great week of practice," Hill said. "We can't just sit back with the ball and wait, we've got to take the initiative out there."
Gaudiose leads Penguins
The Penguins put three players in double figures led by junior Kristy Gaudiose of Poland with 14 points.
Sophomore Jessica Schloemp added 12 along with seven rebounds while freshman Toni Roscoe scored 10.
The Sycamores, who shot 64.7 percent in the first half including 81.8 percent from the 3-point line (9-11), were led by senior Melanie Boeglin with 19 points, nine assists and four steals.
Kristen Weddle added 15, Lisa Berhoff had 13 and Stephanie Lisch scored 12.
After Lisch scored the game's opening basket, Gaudiose tied the score at 2-2 with 18:06 left in the half.
23-0 run
The Penguins didn't score again until the 12:55 mark as Indiana State reeled off 23 unanswered points to take a 25-2 lead.
YSU came back and scored the next 10 points, six by Schloemp, to get to within 13 points 25-12, but the Sycamores then hit three straight 3-point goals, two by Weddle, and were back on top 34-12.
The Penguins never got within 20 points again in the game.
Indiana State led 60-28 at intermission.
The Sycamores reached the 40-point advantage with 11:18 remaining on a 3-point shot by Leah Phillips.
They took their biggest lead of the game, 78-36, moments later on a jump shot by Lisch.
Roscoe, who scored all 10 of her points within four-minute stretch of the second half, hit two straight along with an Ashlee Russo 3-point goal to bring YSU back to 78-43.
That was the closest the Penguins would get the rest of the way.
The Penguins do not have a lot of time to regroup as they play their next contest Monday at Akron in a 7 p.m. tip-off at Rhodes Arena.
YSU will be back at home on Wednesday to take on Coppin State in a 5:15 game at Beeghly.
mollica@vindy.com